The association of comorbidities with administration of adjuvant chemotherapy in stage III colon cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Merely 60% of stage III colon cancer patients receive chemotherapy. Comorbidities are strong predictors of chemotherapy non-use, but the association differs by comorbid condition and is strongest with dementia. Given the survival disadvantage of colon cancer patients with comorbidities, further evidence on the risk-benefit ratio of chemotherapy according to the type and severity of comorbidity and on the extent to which the survival disadvantage of comorbidity is explained by less use or lower tolerability of chemotherapy is needed to foster personalized medical care in these patients.